I’m Robby, and I’m a non-native English speaker. Throughout my entire life I’ve always wanted to speak in English fluently, but because of the way English is taught in schools, I always struggled with my spoken English.

Then, one fine day, after years of constant pursuit of English fluency, I realized the key aspect of spoken English improvement – learning English phrases and word combinations instead of studying grammar rules and trying to construct sentences in your head from scratch!

If you’re interested in improving your English fluency too, please check out the English Harmony System which is a product I created to help all my fellow foreigners to better their spoken English and achieve so much more in professional, social and personal life.

NEW! Well, I’d like to believe that – when you’re expressing your hopes and expectations towards a specific person or event, this is the phrase you want to use: “WELL, I’D LIKE TO BELIEVE THAT Josh is wise enough to make the right decision for himself – after all, we’re not going to dote over him for the rest of his life, right?”

Well, speaking of– this is a universal English phrase and can be used to answer pretty much ANY question! “Can you tell me what time do we have to attend the company meeting today?” – “WELL, SPEAKING OF the meeting – I’m pretty sure it’s at 2 o’clock!”

When it comes to – this English phrase is almost identical to the first one and can also be used in all life situations to make it easier for you to answer questions and start sentences: “Is there anything in particular I should know when printing out sales invoices?” – “Well, WHEN IT COMES TO printing out invoices, the most important thing to remember is…”

Well, to tell you the truth – this is also a universal English sentence starter, only this time around it carries a very small element of surprise; basically you’d start a sentence with this phrase if your answer is something your conversation partner isn’t expecting: “Have you done your homework yet?” – “WELL, TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, I didn’t do it because I didn’t have much time!”

Well, to be totally honest with you – this sentence starter is very similar to the previous one: “Can you tell me if wages have been transferred to your bank account?” – “WELL, TO BE TOTALLY HONEST WITH YOU, I haven’t even checked my bank account yet!”

Well, frankly speaking – and again, this sentence starter is pretty much the same as the previous two: “Is there any chance you’d come to movies with me?” – “WELL, FRANKLY SPEAKING I’m not that into movies, I’d rather stay at home and watch something on Netflix!”

As a matter of fact – this English phrase is a substitute for the word “actually”, and considering that you can use “actually” in almost any sentence, it only stands to reason that “as a matter of fact” can also be used to start any sentence: “I don’t know where Bjorg is today, he never showed up at work!” – “AS A MATTER OF FACT, I hadn’t even noticed he’s not in, thanks for telling me!”

Answering Specific Questions

All right, I’m going to try to give you some idea about – this English phrase is very useful in situations when you have to explain something in the very detail: “Can you tell me how to use this software, please? I’ve never used it before!” – “ALL RIGHT, I’M GOING TO TRY TO GIVE YOU SOME IDEA ABOUT Photoshop! So, first of all…”

Well, speaking of the specifics of – when you have to provide an overview of a particular issue or a process, this is the English sentence starter to use: “So, can you tell us how you built your blog, Robby?” – “WELL, SPEAKING OF THE SPECIFICS OF my blog, let me start with describing the actual platform it’s built on…”

Well, the best way to describe… would be the following – another useful English sentence starter phrase for situations when you have to describe something specific: “Can you tell us how to get to the airport, please?” – “WELL, THE BEST WAY TO DESCRIBE the road to the airport WOULD BE THE FOLLOWING – keep driving straight and then you’re going to see a highway exit sign…”

As you may already know– this is how you start talking about known facts that your conversation partner is most likely familiar with: “Henry, why is our accountant demanding that we keep the stock levels as low as possible?” – “Well, AS YOU MAY ALREADY NOW, the new company regulation came into effect today, according to which…”

Well, not everyone knows that – and this is how you open a statement during which you’re going to reveal some little known information: “I wonder how Michael could build his business in such a short period of time?” – “WELL, NOT EVERYONE KNOWS THAT he inherited a considerable amount of money and that’s why…”

Expressing Your Opinion

NEW! I hate to say this but… – this is a perfect way of making it sound as if you don’t want to do and say what’s about to follow, but you really have no choice! “I HATE TO SAY THIS BUT I really have to go, sorry about that!”

NEW! Well, I’m very well aware that – if you’re ever in a situation when you have to make the point that you’re aware of something, this is a very good alternative to saying “Yes, I know that…” – “WELL, I’M VERY WELL AWARE THAT I could be sacked any moment, but I’m not afraid to speak my mind!”

NEW! To put it in perspective – personally I LOVE this phrase because it sounds really smart and intelligent, and it can be used in a wide variety of situations! The word “perspective” is used here to tell the other person that you’re going to explain the concept in a way that will make them understand exactly what you’re talking about: “The unemployment rates in our region are hitting an all-time-high! TO PUT IT IN PERSPECTIVE, there’s a 50% unemployment among young people of 25 years of age and younger, so – there you go!”

NEW! If you think about it, you’ll realize that– sometimes you have to be very smart in the way you express your opinion, and this English sentence starter is just great to both express your opinion and object to the other person’s opinion! You’re not telling them they’re wrong, you’re merely stating the truth thus making it sounds as if the other person has also arrived to the same conclusion: “IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, YOU’LL REALIZE THAT our workload has almost doubled over the last couple of years while our wages have stayed the same!”

NEW! There’s no denying that – another perfect phrase to use when you want to express your opinion that might be somewhat different from the other person’s opinion: “THERE’S NO DENYING THAT the crime rates have dropped this year, but if you look into the statistics, you’ll realize that the figures have been heavily massaged.”

Actually, I’m fully aware of the fact that – this English sentence starter can be used in conversations when you have to stress the fact that you’re familiar with a particular fact or situation: “Why did you leave Jimmy at the workstation on his own? You could have asked someone whether he was fully trained or not?” – “ACTUALLY, I’M FULLY AWARE OF THE FACT THAT he’s not fully trained – but I could never have imagined that…”

I don’t want to sound like bragging, but – this is how you initiate your response when you have to tell about something related to your personal achievements: “How did you know how to use this printer?” – “Well, I DON’T WANT TO SOUND LIKE BRAGGING, but I’ve been using the same printer in my previous job!”

Speaking of… there’s one thing I can say for sure – this is how you inform the other person of something you’re 100% sure of: “Can you tell me what kind of shoes I should be wearing for the wedding?” – “SPEAKING OF the wedding, THERE’S ONE THING I CAN SAY FOR SURE – brown shoes is the latest trend, so you can’t go wrong with that!”

Well, taking into consideration that – this English sentence starter phrase will come in handy when you have to draw a conclusion: “What time you think we should leave to make it home on time?” – “WELL, TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THAT it takes about half an hour to get home, we should…”

Well, I guess it goes without saying that – you can use this phrase to state something obvious, something that almost everyone would agree on: “You think Mark is going to be angry if we leave 5 minutes early?” – “WELL I GUESS IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT he won’t be happy with us leaving the shop before it’s supposed to close, but…”

Well, I think it’s safe to assume that – are you making an assumption? Well, then why not use this handy phrase? Here’s how it happens in real life: “Do you think it’s OK to drive the tractor?” – “WELL, I THINK IT’S SAFE TO ASSUME THAT Johnny fixed the brakes or else he wouldn’t have left it here, don’t you think so?”

Well, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that – whenever the element of surprise is brought up during the conversation but you’d like to point out that the matter at hand isn’t so surprising after all, this is how you do it: “Did you know that all bodybuilders use steroids these days?” – “WELL, IT REALLY SHOULDN’T COME AS A SURPRISE THAT they’re all doing it – after all, it’s very popular in other sports as well!”

Well, to answer this question, I have to stress that – a very simple yet handy phrase when you’re making your point by emphasizing a particular aspect of the issue: “Do you think it would be possible for me to start my own business?” – “WELL, TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION, I HAVE TO STRESS THAT 90% of all new business fail within the first year, so…”

Disagreeing

NEW!I don’t mean to be rude, but…– this phrase is going to come in handy when you’re offering your honest opinion on something that you strongly disapprove of: “Sorry, I DON’T MEAN TO BE RUDE, BUT would you mind turning the volume down? I’m trying to get some sleep!” As you can imagine, when you’re using this phrase you have to be prepared to have an altercation with the other person because quite obviously what you’re saying might be taken as an offense!

NEW!No offense, but… – another phrase used to let the other person know that what’s going to follow will potentially offend them, so always limit these kinds of conversations to the bare minimum and use this English sentence starter only when really necessary: “NO OFFENSE, BUT I think you looked way better at the last party – just my opinion!”

NEW! Well, it’s all nice and well, but... – it’s always a good strategy to agree to disagree, so basically what you’re doing in this English sentence starter is – you’re pointing out that by and large everything is nice and well to make it easier for the other person to stomach the truth that’s about to follow: “WELL, IT’S ALL NICE AND WELL, BUT for some reason I just don’t think Alex is the type of guy our daughter should be hanging out with!”

NEW! We’ll just have to agree to disagree! – this is a great phrase to use in a situation when it’s obvious that both of you have a completely different opinion and you just won’t come to an agreement. This should be the final statement in the conversation and there’s no point to continue the argument beyond this point.

Well, I can definitely see where you’re coming from, but – it’s just another way of saying that you can see WHY your conversation partner is saying what he or she is saying, and then you want to explain why your opinion is different: “… so that’s why I think we shouldn’t increase the price.” – “WELL, I CAN DEFINITELY SEE WHERE YOU’RE COMING FROM, but I’d say we should slightly increase the price because everyone else in the industry is going to do so!”

With all due respect– this is what you say before disagreeing to make it sound polite: “Juan, you shouldn’t be wearing sandals at work!” – “WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, but everyone else is wearing sandals, so either we all stop wearing them or I’ll keep wearing them!”

Expressing Uncertainty

Well, you can’t really say that – this is a handy sentence to begin your English sentences within situations when you’re disagreeing with someone, but at the same time you’re not sure of it: “I think her dress looks ugly!” – “WELL, YOU CAN’T REALLY SAY THAT it’s ugly, but yes, I can admit it’s not the best dress I’ve seen…”

Well, as far as I’m aware – you can always begin an English sentence with this phrase when you’re going to say something that’s true, but you’re still admitting that there might be something else to the matter, but you’re just not aware of it: “Excuse me, can you tell me if the London bus leaves at the same time today?” – “WELL, AS FAR AS I’M AWARE it does, but you’d be better off calling the directory inquiries to make sure!”

To the best of my knowledge– this phrase is pretty much the same as the one above: “By the way, are we working next Monday?” – “Well, TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE we’re off next Monday, but I guess we should check it with the secretary. Just to stay on the safe side!”

Well, if I’m not mistaken – yet another phrase which can be used in situations when you’re not totally convinced of the correctness of the information you’re providing: “So, what time does the film start at?” – “WELL, IF I’M NOT MISTAKEN, it starts at 5 but I guess we’d better be there before time, just in case!”

Now, just make sure you repeat, memorize and use at least a few of these phrases.

Obviously, you can’t start using all 35 English sentence starters within a matter of days, but even if you manage to learn and use 5 of them, you’re going to notice a definite increase of your oral fluency!

Cheers,

Robby

P.S. Would you like to find out why I’m highlighting some of the text in red?Read this article and you’ll learn why it’s so important to learn idiomatic expressions and how it will help you to improve your spoken English!

The meaning of the first example is “While I was working on this task, I saw … by accident.”

The meaning of the second example is simply “I have done this work this way and that’s the way it happened!”
More examples:
“I happened to see a man being attached on the street while driving home from work.”
“I happened to hear what Mark was saying about me when talking to Victoria.”
“I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, that’s why I got the job offer!”
So basically the “happened to…” is used to express the RANDOM nature of the event, when something just happens on its own accord with no purposeful action from the person in question.
Regards,
Robby

Praveen Hitnalli

Thanks Robby for your information. I could get the drift on usage of “happened to” sentence.

Are these sentences usage are correct ? Please correct me if I’m wrong.
– “I HAPPENED TO SEE this observation while I was working on this task.”
So, here I HAPPENED TO SEE, does it give meaning like “It happened for me to come across this observation while…” ? Or is it like ” I was able to see this observation while…” ?

– “I HAPPENED TO HAVE done this work in this way.”
So, here I HAPPENED TO HAVE… does it give meaning like ” I felt like I should have done this work… ” ?

Still, I’m bit in state of not clear for – “Happened to have…” and “happened to be…”.

I would appreciate your help, if you could shed some light on these with some more examples/scenarios.

Please refer to this video http://englishharmony.com/to-happen-to-be/ where I’m discussing usage of the phrase “To happen to…”
As for using “alright” in business conversations – there’s nothing wrong with that! 😉
Cheers,
Robby

Praveen Hitnalli

I have couple of questions. Can you pleases tell me the meaning and appropriate usage of the following starters? Any particular scenario with some example.
– ” I happened to see…”
– ” Happened to have…”

And, is it good to use the word “All right…” often in business conversations? Till now I never came across only this word while having written communication (mails, formal/informal chatting) in my organization specially. Once my boss even had told me that, it’s not good to use this word often as interpretation for “All right” word will be different for different people and might mislead sometimes.

Thanks so much Praveen for the positive feedback, I’m really glad you like these phrases! 😉

Praveen Hitnalli

Robby, I’m not understanding how should I thank you again.☺ I’m really enjoying the english phrases, english starters from your posts in my day to day business works. It’s really excited to write and speak with these. Great piece of information on your pages ! Keep it up!

Here’s the funny thing – ALL my videos are great examples of how you can do self-practice! When I record my YouTube videos, I don’t have a conversation partner, I speak with myself! Well, in reality it’s my audience that I’m speaking to, but at the time of recording the video there’s just me and the camcorder http://englishharmony.com/recording-your-speech/

Speaking of how to start and lead the conversation – just use all the phrases I’ve published on this article (if you do a role play and you imagine yourself speaking with someone else) or alternatively if you’re just voicing your thoughts out loud, you can use any idiomatic expressions, phrases and collocations – there’s hundreds upon hundreds of them published on this blog:

Hi Abnita,
I’m really sorry for not getting back to you sooner – I was gone to my home country for a few days and then I had to catch up with my Fluency Star students etc. – you know the drill! 😉
Now, speaking of a reason that the management would understand, I can think of two main reasons:
* Health issues that wouldn’t allow you to do night shifts
* Personal & family related reasons such as having small children around etc.
Other than that, I can’t think of anything that would serve as a valid reason for the management not to transfer you onto the night shift!
Cheers,
Robby

Abnita

Hello Robby,

You seem to be on holiday. Hope you are enjoying the holidays.
In one of your articles, you said we do not need anybody in person to practice Spoken English. Rather we can improve or learn speaking by practicing with ourselves. I tried this formula, but unable to understand how to start and lead the conversation. I want you to help me by showing a video giving a practical example which may help me understand at least to start from there.

Hope you’ve understood my problem.

Thanks & Regards,
Abnita.

Abnita

Hello Robby,

Hope you are doing good!!

I need your help to prepare one of the interview questions for Internal Job Posting. Ex: “Management is deciding to move me to night shift, however I do not want to change my current shift. What should be the possible reason which management could understand and allow me to continue in the same shift?”

Can you kindly put yourself on interviewee and explain me in your way.

Hi Abnita,
This question is best answered by using phrases such as
“…what sets me apart from the others is…” and “best candidate for the promotion”.
Example: “Well, speaking of why you should definitely consider me for the promotion, it’s worth mentioning that I’ve never missed a day during the last three years, I’ve always filed in my reports on time and I’ve a great relationship with the team, so that’s what sets me apart from the others and makes me the best candidate for the promotion!”
Regards,
Robby

Abnita

Hello Robby, thanks a lot. How should I structure a sentence for question: “Why should we consider you for promotion? I think I should start with all my accomplishments”. But not sure how to make it in answer. Could you please share a practical example for this too. Thanks a ton.

Hi Abnita,
Here we go: “Now Robby, can you please tell us about your weaknesses? What would you say is your area of performance that you should improve upon?”
Robby: “Well, to tell you the truth, I’m a little bit of a perfectionist, and while it’s a good trait to have for the most part, sometimes it can actually slow me down – especially when working with a large volume of data. I just gotta learn to accept the fact that there are times when you can’t get the job done meticulously!”
Hope it helps,
Robby

Abnita

sounding good, can you please more be specific with a practical example. How should I frame it in a sentence to answer? How would you answer it If you were me?

Personally I think the best way to go about this question is by pointing out one of your STRENGTHS as a WEAKNESS!

It may sound unrealistic at first, but here’s the deal – you can take your positive characteristics to an extreme thus making into a limiting factor for your performance.
For example – being meticulous and attentive to detail is a strength, but if you’re being too pedantic, it can slow you down sometimes which is actually your weakness! 😉
Hope this helps,
Regards,
Robby

Abnita

Hello Robby,

I have to attend an interview for Internal Job posting in a company and trying to prepare an answer for a question. Que: What is your weakness. I am trying hard around all perspective, but unable to prepare a suitable answer which shouldn’t come out an adverse impression as the interviewer who all going to take the interview know my present work. Would you kindly help me?

Well, the obvious answer would be – “I can’t do those extra duties in my current role due to the fact that I don’t have the authority to do them!”

Abnita

Really useful. Thanks a lot. I’ve an interview question which I am unable to crack. Would you help with some ideas? Question: What extra things you’ll perform if you promote to next level? Why cannot you perform the same in current role?

OK, so here we go:
“I know what I’m gonna say now is going to sadden you, but it just needs to be said – our neighbors just called and they’ve found our cat dead on the roadside”.
“Well, my day has been so bad that nothing could upset me at this stage!”
“Guys, you couldn’t believe how stunning she was, the moment she walked into the room she blinded me with her beauty…”
Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Robby

Abnita

I’m so sorry for typo, yes it’s actually “COULD BE”. Correction: Thanks a lot Robby. Provided site is simply awesome. Would you mind me asking one example sentence for “Sadden you”, “Upset me” & “Blind me” which can be used easily in conversation .

You’re saying which “cannot” be used in conversation? I would have thought you’d need a sample sentence that COULD be used in a conversation??
Please confirm you actually want me to come up with a sentence that CANNOT be used in a conversation!

The beauty of the English language is that you can take certain adjectives such as “upset”, “sad”, “blind”, ” etc. and use them as verbs in which case you don’t have to use the verb “to make” in front of them, but it’s just a matter of preference and you can choose what way you’re going to say it – using those words as verbs or leaving them as adjectives in which case the verb “to make” stays in front of them.

“Make you sad” = “Sadden you”

“Make me upset” = “Upset me”

“Make me blind” = “Blind me”

Basically both ways are correct and it’s just a matter of individual preference!

Hello Robby, hope you are doing well. Sometimes I get confused a lot in evaluating as which sentence is correct. Like some people say I cannot upset my people and some say I cannot make my people upset. I struggle in understanding whether to use “make upset” or just “upset”. Can you please help me understand?

Thanks for dropping by – you’re welcome to explore all the articles and videos, a good place to start would be here: http://englishharmony.com/start/ where you’ll learn what EXACTLY you can do to improve your fluency using this blog and then you can head over to the sitemap where you’ll find all the articles and videos: http://englishharmony.com/sitemap-page Let me know if you’ve any questions!

Now, speaking of your comment, the first thing that I have to say is that once you’re quite happy with your fluency, don’t try to push it! I strongly believe if you try to become a very good interpreter, you may actually run into certain fluency issues whereby you won’t be able to speak with the same ease you can speak now!

But if it’s really so important for you to be able to translate English movies and programs into your native language, I’m going to write an article about it.

Hey Robby!
I must thank you for all the effort you put into creating such useful, effective and helpful contents for this blog.
I’ve followed your blog since about 6 months ago and these articles really helped me a lot.
But… There’s something that I’d be thankful if you help me with.
Well, for someone like me that doesn’t live in an English-speaking country there are some career that all involve translating somehow.
I think I’m fluent enough to be able to hold a conversation but when it comes to translating it’s as if I’m dumb in English.
I fully understand the spoken words, I understand what he/she’s talking about. But I can’t translate them to my native language.
And the bigger problem is with real-time translation.
For example when family and friends see me watching TV it seems they all have the sudden desire to test my English!
They ask me what he/she’s saying? And here’s where I’d get stuck and don’t have an answer.
Let me put it simple: Is there any way for me to improve in this area?